Loader and unloader eor railroad cars



Feb; 24, 1925.

G. MANIERRE LOADER AND UNLOADER Fon nAILnoAD cms 1 23. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet ,1

` 1,527,486' G. MANIERRE LOADER AND UNLOADER Fon RAILROAD cms Filed April 23. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 24. ms.

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Feb. 24, 1925.

1,527,486 G. MANIERRE LOADER AND UNLoAnEa Fon muxo/m clms Filed Ap'il 25, 1921 s sheetsshe`et s- @ewige Mme/'re Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES GEORGE MANIERE-E, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

LOADER AND UNLOADER FOR RAILROAD CARS.

n Application led April 23, 1921.

To aZZwwm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE MANinnnn, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Loaders and Unloaders for Railroad Cars, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates lto improvements in loaders and unloaders for railroad cars, or the like. Y

It is an object of the invention to provide a device of this character which can readily be transported to the vehicle or vessel to be unloaded or loaded, instead of requiring that the vehicle or vessel should be moved to a definite place at which the loader is stationarily mounted.

It is an object of the invention also to provide a device of this character in which a conveying mechanism, as for instance, an endlessbelt, is situated on the loader and actuated for moving the goods to a discharge position, so as to facilitate the emptying of the car or vessel, or to load the car or vessel, respectively.

It is also an object of the invention to provide adjustable means for tensioning the loader or unloader and lfor Vdirecting thedischarge of the goods carried by the conveyor to the discharge position.

Itis also an object of the invention to combine with the endless conveyor a chute or the like Vthrough which the conveyor is guided and which is mounted on a transportable frame, `carrying the prime mover of the conveyor for the object of creating a transportable self contained unit through which Vthe loading or unloading may be rapidlyV effected, and which after the conipletion of the loading or unloading of one vehicle may rapidly be moved to another position. I

VVith these and numerous other objects in view, an embodiment of the invention is described in .the following specification and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the entire apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section through the principal parts, on a large scale,

Serial No. 463,758.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the conveyor and its adjusting means,

Fig. 4c is a sectional view on lines 4 4 of Fig. l,

Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are sectional views on lines 5 5, 6 6, 7 7, and 8 8 respec; tively, of Fig. l, and

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the front portion of the device.

The sub-structure of the transportable plant comprises a truck, having a platform Vl with relatively large rear wheels 2, and

one or more relatively small wheels or roll ers 3, which are mounted so as to facilitate thek steering of this truck. A chute 4L, including the side plates 5, and the bottom member 6, is carried by this sub-structure through a plurality of braces or supports indicated at 8, 9 and l0, which may again be reinforced by transverse elements l1 and 12. 'Ihe members 8, 9, and 10 are secured at their bottom ends to suitable gusset plates lrand lll, respectively, and at their top ends the members 9 and 10 are fixed to a block l5 which is rigidly secured to the chute l.

The other bracing members 8 have their top ends fastened to a similar attachment piece 16, and handles 17 mounted on the braces 8 will facilitate the conveyance of the entire device from one place to another.

The chute serves for receiving a portion of an endless conveyor 20 which includes a flexible belt 2l provided with a number of transverse bars or rods 22, spaced longitudinally of the belt and securely fastened to the outer surface of the same. Figs. et to 8 show that there are always two of these bars 22 on the same transverse line, but separated from each other near the longitudinal axis of the belt. Owing to this arrangement the flexibility of the belt transversely of its axis is maintained in spite of the transverse reinforcing` bars, which at the same time aid materially in the conveyance of the goods.

, An extension 23 near the forward end of the chute is constructed as a charging trough. It has a slanting front wall 2a which is reinforced by bars 25, and the lat-eral walls of this extension are secured to the lateral vwalls 5 ofthe chute by an angle plate 2G. The lower portion of the front wall 23, is rounded towards the lateral walls of the chute, as indicated at 28 in Fig. 9, to direct the material charged uni- 'formly towards the conveyor 20, the latter passing through the front of the chute 4, by a slot 30, provided in the lower end of the front wall 24 of the extension.

The drive of the conveyor is effected by a motor 31 which is enclosed in a housing or casing 32, mounted on the platform l of the truck and which drives through a suitable link chain, 33, a sprocket wheel 34. This wheel is mounted on a shaft 35, which is carried in brackets 36, on the bracing elements 10, near the end of the structure. The shaft 35 to which the sprocket 34 is iixedly secured, also serves for supporting the hub parts 37 of a pulley 38, Fig. 8, over which the conveyor 2O is trained. The hub sleeves 37 are keyed to the shaft 35 and are united with the wooden pulley or roller 33 by n cans of suitable fasteners. The ends of the shaft 35 are rotatably mounted in bearings of brackets 36, and in this way the shaft will impart the necessary movement to the belt 21 through the pulley 38. Near the opposite end of the chute 4 the lateral walls are extended downwardly as indicated at 39, Fig. l, and a bracket 40 is mounted on each extension, these extensions being provided with slots (not shown) to permit of longitudinal adjustment of the brackets. The bearing brackets 40 support below the chute the shaft 41 by means of sleeves. Roller bearings 42 are united with a, pulley 43, over which the conveyor is trained. A tensioning device for maintaining the conveyor taut, so as to prevent excessive sag between the turning points, includes lugs 45, Fig. 3 which are secured to the lateral walls of the chute 4 and which are tapped to receive the pressure screws 46, the ends of which impinge upon the lugs 47 of the brackets 40- By this means therefore the conveyor can be adjustably tightened whenever desired Without calling for an extension on the chute itself.

The material which is carried on the upper surface of the conveyor in the chute is Ul I transported in the trough upwardly and will therefore be discharged near the pulley 41. At this end of the chute a hinged cover 56 is movably secured to the conveyor chute, and is normally held in alinement with the main part of the conveyor through a rod 51, which has a handle portion 52 near the charging end, and which is provided with a plurality of notches 53, near the handle portion. A small bracket 54, Fig. 6, is fastened to the cover plate 55 for the chute, and a transverse pin 56 extending through the bracket 54 is adapted to enter into locking engagement with any of the notches 53 of the rod 51. The front end of the rod 51 is pivotally secured at 57 to a small link 53 which is fixed to the mames top of the cover 50, permitting thereby said cover to be moved about the pivot 60 which is located near the end of an arm 61, riveted or secured in some other suitable way to the lateral walls of the chute 4.

Owing to this arrangement the cover 50, therefore, may be raised or lowered with re.- spect to the pulley, so as to prevent the rise of dust or the like at the turning point of the conveyor belt where the material is discharged.

In the operation of conveyors of this character a considerable amount of bulk material, as for instance sand, gravel, coal, enters between Ithe lower surface of the belt 2L and the chute. This material is taken along by friction, and it would gradually increase and interfere with the operation of the machine. y

In order to eect a discharge of this material lfrom the conveyor, ata point near the turning point of the same, the bottom plate of the chute 4 is provided near the pulley or roller 43 with an opening and defiecting discharge chutes 70.

A very large part of the material which is carried by friction between the lower surface of the belt 2O and the bottom of the chute, will therefore be discharged through the defiecting chutes 7 O which are fastened .to the bottom by means of the angle irons 71. From Fig. 5 it will be seen that the material which leaves the conveyor chute through the opening to drop into the deflecting chute will be discharged beyond the lateral edges of the lower part of the conveyor and in proximity to that point of discharge at which the material transported on the upper surface of the conveyor is discharged.

While the larger part of this material will drop through the chutes 70 it may still be possible that a portion of the material will ybe retained between the surface of the pulley 43 and the lower surface of the conveyor belt 21. This material will then slide on the conveyor belt downwardly until it will become wedged between the lower pulley or drum 38 and the conveyor belt which is trained about the same. In order 'to prevent that the material again should .be taken along by the friction between connear the top of the pulley and will be thrown by the action of the conveyor into the chute 74 from which it will be discharged laterally. The entry of this material into the chutes is facilitated by the provision of an angular flaring plate 75-or spout which is directed towards the drum 38.

In the operation of the device the entire machine is moved to a point adjacent the loading or unloading dooi` of the vehicle. This movement is facilitated through the provision of the handles 17 on the braces l1 and through handle 7 6 at the front plate 24; of the chute. After having been moved into position the switch 77 for the motor 31 is closed, and the conveyor is thereby actuated. The material is moved manually or by mechanism (not shown) from pile or heap into the extension 23 where it is distributed uniformly upon the adjacent part of the conveyor. The operator who preferably is stationed near the motor adjusts the handle 52 of the defiecting cover 50 so as to move the cover into a more or less deflected position as indicated in Fig. 2. In this way the material while being loaded is transported to the vehicle or when the device is used for unloading the material is moved to a point remote from the vehicle, and after the operation has been completed, the entire device may be moved to another place where the loading or unloading of another vehicle may be carried out.

Owing to the provision of the deflecting chutes 70 and 74 the operation of the conveyor will not be interfered with through the material which may gather between the bottom of the chute and the lower surface of the conveyor. This material will be automatically removed at a plurality of points and the entire device therefore can readily be shifted to another point of operation.

I claim l. In a device of the character described, in combination, a portable truck, a trough having a substantially continuous bottom wall and iiXedly mounted upon said truck,

an endless belt conveyor operating one of its stretches in said trough, an angularly variable cover section pivoted on the side walls of said trough and extending beyond one end thereof, pulleys for propelling said belt, a collecting member adjacent to one of said pulleys between the stretches of the conveyor comprising inclined planes disposed transversely of the conveyor and a blade secured to said planes and projecting toward said pulley to receive material thrown therefrom.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a transportable substructure, a chute carried thereby in fixed position, a conveyor traveling within said chute, a pair of pulleys around which said conveyor is trained, a deflecting cover hingedly connected with one end of the chute and adjacent one of said pulleys, a rigid tension element connected with the cover, means for locking the tension element in a plurality of different positions, and means mounted on the sub-structure for actuating the con veyor.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination, a supporting truck, an endless conveyor and pulleys for propelling same, a trough extending substantially the entire length of the conveyor and supporting one of its stretches, an angularly adjustable delecting cover having side walls hinged adjacent to their ends to the side walls of said trough, and means for adjusting said delecting cover extending over and toward the opposite end of said conveyor.

In testimony whereof, I aiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, at 85 Oneida St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

GEORGE MANIERRE.

Vitnesses:

II. R. WAHL, JULIA M. BURNS. 

